• GETTING A “ROAD MAP” FOR THE TRAUMA THERAPY HEALING PROCESS

In trauma therapy and PTSD treatment, we won’t dive right into your big pain points. Instead, we will spend time understanding how the body reacts to traumatic events, resulting in the effects you’re dealing with now. As your trauma therapist, I will provide all the understanding you need about why you’re dealing with what you are and what your healing process is going to look like. We’ll work together to set goals that are unique to your experiences and life. Additionally, we’ll spend ample time learning how you are already finding success in your life and empowering you further to be with the hard stuff when we get to it.

• BEING WITH YOUR STORY

This is where we spend time discussing the events that brought you here. We work through the grief of what was lost and the time spent enduring the effects of trauma. We do this with care and at a slow pace so that you stay connected with your body and emotions. Trauma has a tendency to knock us out of our present experiences or bodies. So, a key ingredient of healing from trauma and PTSD is developing the capacity to stay connected to the mind, body, and spirit as we work through trauma with therapies like EMDR and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy.

• RECONNECTION

At this point in therapy, you will have an understanding and real feeling that “the past is in the past.” You’ll be more present in life and find yourself reconnecting or discovering relationships, activities, and so much of life that wasn’t available when the effects of trauma were more invasive. It’s time to discover what comes next.

• My Approach to Trauma Therapy and PTSD Treatment

I will never align myself with or join in any narrative that points to you as the problem. You are not the problem, trauma is. Remember, trauma isn’t what happened, it’s what’s happening now as a result of what occurred in the past. Together, we’ll take notice when trauma encourages you to be hyper-alert, afraid, overwhelmed, isolated, or detached.  We’ll learn how and why it shows up, how to name it, and how to move into a sense of safety and connection. Slowly, directly, and with compassion and kindness. 

For the deeper processing of what happened, many people call me to start EMDR therapy or Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. EMDR is a therapy with distinct phases to support your brain’s natural healing abilities. While supporting you in staying grounded and present, we move your attention to the left and right sides of your body as we work through traumatic memories. This helps your brain more fully process what happened. Whether we use EMDR or a more somatic approach like Sensorimotor (or integration of the two or more), you’ll be working towards feeling more connected to yourself and your surroundings. Trauma therapy and PTSD treatment will help you feel more empowered to make choices that fit with your values as well as more freedom from the past leading to more possibilities for the future.